Ouagadougou: Judicial actors including a magistrate, a chief clerk, and two clerks in Ouagadougou are facing prosecution for fraudulent activities related to land sales, according to a press release from the Attorney General at the Bobo-Dioulasso Court of Appeal. The individuals are accused of various offenses, including stellionat, complicity in stellionat, corruption, forgery, and complicity in forgery of public documents.
According to Burkina Information Agency, a network involving land brokers, registry agents, and legal actors was dismantled. The defendants allegedly identified plots of land in Ouagadougou, both allocated and unallocated, and created court orders to falsely validate sales or transfers of ownership. This illicit activity resulted in the allocation of land to ineligible persons and the transfer of ownership away from rightful beneficiaries.
The investigation uncovered that 385 false court orders were issued by Judge Yaya Coulibali between January 2021 and June 2025, as reported by the Attorney General. The press release indicates a lack of evidence for the regular submission of requests for these orders, which included fictitious numbers.
Orange Money account statements revealed interactions among the defendants and confirmed the existence of a large network of counterfeiters. The prosecutor assures that legal proceedings against these judicial actors will continue, respecting their presumption of innocence, and justice will be delivered to the victims involved in this case.